British National Team Must Wait for Ben Gordon

Posted: Sept. 9, 2009
For Pistons' Gordon, British squad must wait



Great Britain opened the European championships with a loss to Slovenia on Monday. The result might have been different if a Pistons newcomer had suited up for the Brits.

Free-agent acquisition Ben Gordon, who was born in London, is eligible to play for the British national team. He played for the United States at the 2003 Pan-Am Games, but the Brits want to field a competitive team for the 2012 Olympics in London.

Gordon eventually might join the British national team, but he told Hoopshype.com he had other priorities this summer.

"I'm definitely on board to play for Great Britain," he said. "But I didn't want to make a commitment as far as when I was going to play until I felt I was totally committed to that cause.

"I want to go there when I'm ready, and this summer to me was about getting situated and moving from Chicago to Detroit. I wanted to have everything in order in my life before going overseas and representing the country."

Piston Boris wrote:I wonder how many other NBA stars can be classed as British nationals, though? If Ben doesn't get enough help, he'll be as happy as Nowitzki was playing for Deutschland in the 2008 Olympics.